the meaning of Easter
I'm a little confused. Jesus died on the cross, then miraculously rose again. So we eat chocolate eggs because...?
Because Easter's a sodding Spring festival. As Eddie Izzard so eloquently put it, "eggs are for fertility and rabbits are for shagging". It's a pagan festival. And that's fine. It's a very long weekend off (Uni closed for almost a week which I cannot complain about) and one that we tend to forget about. I had intended to work through Easter, but seeing as the dept was closed, I had an impromptu holiday. Woohoo. I just think that we should be honest about the origins of Easter. I know it's a pretty important day for Christians, but it was decided to be celebrated at this time in the year to coincide with the Spring festival. Although I can see the links between Jesus rising again and the new life thing of Spring, we still don't eat chocolate Jesus'. But maybe we should. Or, for the non-Christians, have an Isis-style festival of new life. With much booze etc.
Who votes for choccy Jesus, who for Isis?
Moon. xxx
Because Easter's a sodding Spring festival. As Eddie Izzard so eloquently put it, "eggs are for fertility and rabbits are for shagging". It's a pagan festival. And that's fine. It's a very long weekend off (Uni closed for almost a week which I cannot complain about) and one that we tend to forget about. I had intended to work through Easter, but seeing as the dept was closed, I had an impromptu holiday. Woohoo. I just think that we should be honest about the origins of Easter. I know it's a pretty important day for Christians, but it was decided to be celebrated at this time in the year to coincide with the Spring festival. Although I can see the links between Jesus rising again and the new life thing of Spring, we still don't eat chocolate Jesus'. But maybe we should. Or, for the non-Christians, have an Isis-style festival of new life. With much booze etc.
Who votes for choccy Jesus, who for Isis?
Moon. xxx
posted by Moon @ 11:31 am
32 Comments:
At 10:46 am,
frankien said…
The egg is meant to represent both the resurrection of life and possibly the shape of the stone rolled away from the tomb. The reason we eat chocolate relates to the end of Lent. While on this subject, I cant help but say I find it slightly disturbing that people in this country are so ill-informed about Christianity. Even if people arent Christians, they should at least have some knowledge from a cultural perspective (this isnt meant to suggest you yourself are ignorant, Moon- this has been prompted by my general observations over the Easter period!!). But no, we cant have nativity plays in schools anymore because it offends people, yet we are meant to celebrate Diwali. CONTOVERSIAL!!
At 11:11 am,
Tombola said…
I'm not going to get involved in that particular debate Munch, but would be interested in your thoughts on something else.
My mate was staying at mine last week and he's given up alcohol for Lent. Fair enough. However, he then explained that on Sundays in Lent, it's ok to drink booze. Eh? He said that Sunday is a celebratory day for Christians and so it's ok. My view was that giving stuff up for Lent is supposed to symbolise Jesus slumming it in the wilderness. He didn't spend 6 days there and nip to the nearest Travel Tavern for a shower and a comfy bed did he? I should point out that my mate is a committed Christian, teaches RE and goes to church on Sundays. I don't and so he ought to be more knowledgable on this than me.
Anyone?
At 11:57 am,
- said…
Yes, the egg is meant to represent the resurrection etc but this is a post-hoc rationalisation. It is well known that in order to popularise the faith in the mainly pagan countries of Europe, the powers that be in the Church utilised existing pagan symbols of fertility, redefining them with new 'Christian' meaning.
As far as the political-correctness-gone-mad stuff at the end of your post, it might be worth examining who is getting offended by what in this case.
At 12:09 pm,
Moon said…
Ooh! I think there are plenty of religious symbolisms of which the general public are unaware (I of course include myself in this), and also of which Christians-a-plenty are unaware. Take the "day of rest" misconception by your friend, Tom. I wouldn't think that would justify a rest from fasting, either. Considering Christianity was built upon Jewish foundations, whereby their Shabbat is so holy that no work at all should be done, it seems a little strange to get pissed up instead. Anyway, I agree with Ak that the Christian symbolisms are post-hoc, however this doesn't necessarily negate the value of them to Christians. I just think that the non-Christian population at large should be honest about the origins of Easter, and be taught that they are at least as much pagan as they are Christian. And then we can all be friends and enjoy our chocolate eggs!
At 12:28 pm,
Tombola said…
That sounds like the end of a Jerry Springer episode
At 12:39 pm,
Moon said…
Well I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the great man himself is reading my blog and hoping to hire an Apprentice. I would like to think of myself as more of a Ruth Badger (though slightly less large and more approachable) than a Syed. I trust you all get the Sir Alan references.
At 1:09 pm,
Tombola said…
nope. I haven't a clue what you are talking about Moon.
At 1:12 pm,
Moon said…
Wed evenings. 9pm. BBC2. Well worth a watch. (And I don't even work for the BBC)
At 1:28 pm,
frankien said…
Actually, all this talk of easter eggs and pagan festivals reminds me of wicker man (a nightmare-inducing film I never intend to see again).
I think your friend is a bit wrong about Lent, Tom!!
I dont understand the last sentence of your post, Akira!! I dont find it offensive that we have the chance to understand the festivals of other religions, and I doubt whether other religions really are offended by nativity plays. Nevertheless, the idea that they are offensive is the justification for many schools ditching them. I hope that clarifies things!
At 2:08 pm,
Moon said…
Not sure about wicker man but I do quite fancy a chocolate egg.
At 2:39 pm,
- said…
I just enjoy shouting "political-correctness-gone-mad" in a sarky voice whenever a political-correctness-gone-mad issue is raised. I suppose I find that the anti-political correctness people are usually pretty insensitive to others and want every excuse to say things the way they've always said them to the extent that if it isn't causing offence then maybe they're not going far enough... but that's another issue to what we're discussing here... it's not actually related to Jesus, or eggs, or chocolate, or Diwali or anything blog-related.
Just so you know, I can most often be heard shouting 'political-correctness-gone-mad' at Richard Littlejohn's column in the Sun- before launching into a tirade of expletive-ridden abuse (directed at the aforementioned wanker). The down-side of this is that people think I'm a filthy racist (quite understandably) not really understanding that I'm screaming the idiot's favourite phrase to somehow claim it back for the intelligentsia rather that propagate the right-wing shit that he spurts.
Hmmmm... I'm confused by most of what I've written but it made sense in my head.
At 2:41 pm,
Moon said…
You read the Sun?
At 2:44 pm,
Lord G said…
Organised religion scares the shit out of me. If you've lived in the american south, you'll know what I mean.
I'd prefer a smokey bacon sarnie with HP sauce. Fine mid-morning snack.
At 2:50 pm,
- said…
I chance upon the Sun occasionally when foraging for discarded shopping lists in dustbins with Tom (research for his forthcoming ICOM presentation in Sydney, of course).
Whenever I do find the Sun, I actually turn enthusiastically to Littlejohn's latest rant... "How dare that do-gooder, pinko-lefty, non-UKIP-voting scum stand up to my suggestion that disableds ought to be euthanased... doesn't he realise how much of the tax-payer's money it would save?" etc.
Maybe I just enjoy getting angry.
At 3:15 pm,
frankien said…
ah yes, political correctness gone mad! Robert Kilroy-Silk had a lot to say about that. Of course, he also said that Muslims were terrorists, which led to a prompt exit from the BBC. I loved that show. every day RKS was rude to his guests and some lunatic in the audience would shout 'hangin's too good for'em!' Right, I must leave this blog alone. but not without quickly adding that my next door neighbour appeared on Kilroy. I'm not saying anymore.
At 3:32 pm,
Moon said…
how can you exit the blog after a comment like that?! Who's your neighbour? I recall an episode whereby the audience became really angry with an African woman who did not want to claim job seeker's allowance, because she did not have the time to seek a job. The audience shouted things like "if you live in our country you can take our benefits". Hmm. Poor woman could do no right, methinks.
At 5:35 pm,
Tombola said…
Moon - do some research before saying my friend has day of rest misconceptions
http://bible.tmtm.com/wiki/Lent_(Catholic_Encyclopedia)
Matt - I apologise.
At 5:54 pm,
Moon said…
Wow - I stand corrected. Catholic wiki indeed!
Made a similar mistake yesterday when Ak asked me what a heifer was (I use the term frequently). I was reasonably confident in my knowledge of cows, and was, again, totally wrong. I apologise for my stupidity. And also to Dad who would be ashamed of me (this is what growing up in the Shire does to you. Cow knowledge = an accompishment).
Hang on - I have read (bits of) that wiki - it seems that you should still fast on Sundays (see bit at bottom). But its confusing wording means that some disagree. Inconclusive! Hmm...
At 9:58 am,
Tombola said…
so what is a heifer then? My guess is that it's a female cow that's yet to give birth. There's a pub outside Bradford called "The Craven Heifer".
At 9:59 am,
Tombola said…
....which would bag you a nice 4 points in the pub game
At 10:17 am,
Moon said…
and where did you find that info? Heifer wiki? Good cow knowledge, Prof. Pub quizzes of Leeds miss you.
At 10:17 am,
- said…
What??? have you been perusing Everson's web-page Tom?
At 10:46 am,
frankien said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 11:00 am,
frankien said…
I dont believe this! I gave up haribo for a total of 46 days instead of 40. and how come no one ever told us before that Sundays dont count?? I went to Crusaders and everything! I shall admit defeat on this one, Tom.
At 3:40 pm,
Tombola said…
Own up...whose is the deleted comment??? Was I right about the heifer definition? Good work me! is it just a pregnant cow, or can it be one that is not yet pregnant?
That's not very nice Ak.
At 4:10 pm,
Moon said…
Not sure who deleted the comment. There seems to be a bit of trend setting with this comment deleting, though. I don't approve. Unless it boosts the comment tally.
Yes, good cow knowledge, Prof. It's a female cow yet to give birth. I thought it looked like a Friesian, too, but I appear to have made that up.
At 8:53 am,
- said…
Moon, "I thought it looked like a fresian too" makes it sound as if you also stipulated that it was a female cow yet to give birth. If so, I would have given you 8 out of 10 for your definition. HOWEVER, your actual initial definition to me was "A very big cow, one that looks the same as a fresian but bigger". For this comment I would give you 2 out of ten, for knowing that a heifer is a cow.
The deleted comment isn't me. As you can see from my 'not very nice' previous post (Tom, of course you were right with your definition, you generally have a very high chance of being right if you look up a word in your dictionary before 'speculating' as to its meaning... I know that's what you did, don't try and pretend) I don't delete posts even if I have said something CONTOVERSIAL. I only delete them if I have included spelling mistakes that make me look like a tool (although sometimes people comment very early on the comment you want to delete, making your tool-factor rise even more if you do press the delete button). What a quandry.
I think the only person I haven't offended from our blog community is Gaz. This was intentional. I thought I had better insult everyone if I was going to insult moon, however, I fear Gaz too much to insult him (maybe that in itself is offending but I get the feeling it is probably complimentary).
At 9:43 am,
- said…
By the way, that 'tool' comment is a reference to me here:
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21876818&postID=114604262222377219
Just thought I'd point that out.
A
At 11:38 am,
Moon said…
Alright alright you're right to highlight my lack of cow knowledge Ak. But you did omit the fact that I said it was a girl cow. That I did say. And that was the only bit I got right. (Sticks nose in air in adament strop.)
This is an example of the disadvantages of the world wide web. Had google not been instantly accessible you might have believed my bullshitty definition of "heifer". However you didn't believe me, and so checked. Down with google!
I, like Frankien, am still perturbed by the mid-Lent days of rest. Might be time for a new post. what do you reckon? (last poor attempt at further increasing the comment tally)
At 3:37 pm,
Tombola said…
I knew what a heifer was
At 3:46 pm,
Moon said…
Am now very aware that I should not call people (including my good self) a "heifer" anymore as I had always used it to imply "of the larger variety". Calling someone "a female yet to give birth" is (a) less insulting, unless in a very dark sense (rare cases) and (b) less frequently opportune. I don't doubt your heifer knowledge, Prof. Care to offer any "large" alternatives? And checking out www.thesaurus.com is definitely cheating.
This started off about chocolate Jesus'. Now it's heifers. Ugh (exasperated sigh, whilst throwing hands up in air melodramatically)!
At 1:01 am,
Lord G said…
I'm not scary at all. Most think I'm merely a c**t. I actually thought Akira was the one built not dissimilar to a brick outhouse, wheras I'm a bit of a chubster with an affinity for ale and pies.
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